Tracking the cost of the 2011 trade deadline deals: MLB Insider

Perhaps a glimpse back to last year's deadline acquisitions by MLB's eight playoff teams will give fans some insight on what the Indians should do leading up to July 31.

View full sizeDiane Weiss, Detroit Free PressDoug Fister helped the Tigers reach the ALCS in 2011 after coming in a deadline deal with Seattle, but did the Tigers pay too high a price?

Paul Hoynes' Rant

Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson, in the latest edition of Sports Illustrated, said that while he’s friends with Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, he has questions about his power stats because A-Rod admitted taking performance enhancing drugs from 2001-03. He added that if any player connected with PED use is elected to the Hall of Fame, no enshrined Hall of Famer would attend the ceremony.

Jackson, who works for the Yankees, said he might make an exception for left-hander Andy Pettitte, whom he also considers a friend. Pettitte admitted to using steroids when he was trying to come back from an injury.

Jackson hit 563 homers. Several steroid era players have passed him.

“I don’t think the fans really count them, and I agree,” Jackson said. “I believe that Hank Aaron is the home run king, not Barry Bonds, as great a player as Bonds was.”

Before the Sports Illustrated article was published, Jackson told USA Today that Roger Clemens should be inducted into the Hall of Fame after he was found innocent of lying to Congress about his steroid use.

So exactly how does Jackson feel about great players tainted by steroids getting into Cooperstown? Do a couple get elected or do they all get turned away?

Jackson sounds confused. Just like the rest of us.

— Paul Hoynes

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The All-Star break starts Monday. The July 31 trading deadline, the one where waivers aren't needed, is 23 days away. So what should the Indians do to try and help them win the American League Central?

Do they add a starting pitcher and slot him behind Justin Masterson and Ubaldo Jimenez, right in front of the fading Derek Lowe and inconsistent Josh Tomlin? Perhaps they try for an everyday hitter for left field, third base or first base, where the production has been marginal?

Or do they look for another reliever so Joe Smith, Vinnie Pestano and Chris Perez don't keel over from exhaustion in the second half?

The recent past may tell us something. Let's take a look at what the eight playoff teams from the 2011 did at the trading deadline.

St. Louis: In a three-way trade with Chicago and Toronto, the eventual World Series champion acquired starter Edwin Jackson and relievers Octavio Dotel and Marc Rzepczynski and outfielder Corey Patterson. In another move, they acquired shortstop Rafael Furcal from the Dodgers.

Jackson went 5-2 in 13 appearances, including 12 starts, after the deal. He went 1-1 in the postseason in four starts. Dotel was 3-3 with a 3.28 ERA and two saves for St. Louis. He posted a 2.61 ERA in the postseason. Rzepczynski was 0-3 with a 3.97 ERA after the trade. In the postseason, he made 12 appearances. He pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings in the World Series.

Furcal stabilized the shortstop position. He hit .255 with 11 doubles, seven homers and 16 RBI in 50 games.

Cost: Toronto received Colby Rasmus, Brian Tallet, Trever Miller and P.J. Walters. The Dodgers received Alex Castellanos.

Texas: The Rangers, who lost the Series in seven games to the Cardinals, acquired Mike Adams from San Diego and Koji Uehara from Baltimore to strengthen the bullpen.

Adams went 2-3 with one save and a 2.10 ERA in 27 appearances after the trade. He was 2-0 in the postseason with a 3.24 ERA in 11 appearances. Uehara was 1-2 in 22 appearances with a 4.00 ERA. He struggled in the postseason and didn't pitch in the World Series.

Cost: Baltimore received Tommy Hunter and Chris Davis for Uehara. The Padres received pitching prospects Robbie Erlin and Joe Wieland for Adams.

Milwaukee: They acquired closer Francisco Rodriguez from the Mets and infielder Jerry Hairston Jr. from Washington.

Rodriguez went 4-0 with a 1.86 ERA in 31 appearances. In the postseason, he gave up one run in five appearances. Hairston hit .274 (34-for-124). In the postseason, he hit .385 (15-for-39) with eight runs, six doubles and four RBI.

Cost: The Mets received Danny Herrera and Adrian Rosario for Rodriguez. Erik Komatsu was sent to Washington for Hairston.

Detroit: They acquired right-handers Doug Fister and David Pauley from Seattle. Fister, 3-12 in Seattle, went 8-1 in 11 appearances, including 10 starts, for the Tigers to help them win the AL Central. He went 2-1 in the postseason. Pauley was 0-2 with a 5.95 ERA and did not pitch in the postseason.

In August, the Tigers added outfielder Delmon Young on a waiver claim from the Twins. He hit .274 with eight homers and 32 RBI with Detroit. He hit five homers and six RBI in the postseason.

Cost: Charlie Furbush, Francisco Martinez, Casper Wells and Chance Ruffin were sent to Seattle. Pauley was designated for assignment during the 2012 spring training.

Philadelphia: The Phillies' big deadline acquisition was outfielder Hunter Pence from Houston. He hit .324 (67-for-207) with 35 runs, 12 doubles, 11 homers, 35 RBI in 54 games after the deal. In the postseason, Pence hit .211 (4-for-19) with four RBI.

Cost: Jarred Cosart, Jonathan Singleton, Josh Zeid and Domingo Santana were sent to Houston.

Tampa Bay: The Rays made no deals at the deadline.

Arizona: They acquired starter Jason Marquis from Washington and reliever Brad Ziegler from Oakland. Marquis went 0-1 with a 9.53 ERA in three starts, while Ziegler posted a 1.74 ERA in 23 games. Ziegler allowed four runs in one-third of an inning in the postseason.

Cost: Arizona sent Zach Walters to Washington for Marquis and Brandon Allen to the A's for Ziegler.

Yankees: The Yankees did not make deal at the July 31 deadline last year.

This week in baseball

Baseball is a game of threes. Three strikes and you're out and three outs in each half of an inning. Here are two more sets of threes to consider from last week in baseball. All stats are through Friday.

Three up

1. Former Indians infielder Luis Valbuena gave the Cubs a 4-1 victory over Atlanta on Monday with a three-run double in the seventh inning.

2. Phillies lefty Cliff Lee won his first game in 14 starts with a win on Wednesday over the Mets. The last Cy Young winner on that kind of bender was Greg Maddux, who made 14 winless starts for San Diego in 2008.

3. Kevin Youkilis has 13 RBI in 12 games for the White Sox (including a two-run homer Saturday) since being acquired from Boston.

Three down

1. The Braves, according to Elias, are 0-15 on Mondays going back to last year. The Orioles lost 20 straight Monday games from 2009-10.

2. Right-hander Chris Schwinden, since June 2, has been claimed on waivers by Toronto, the Indians, Yankees and Mets, the team that originally waived him.

3. Boston ended a seven-game West Coast trip Wednesday against Seattle and Oakland, the bottom two teams in the AL West, at 2-5.

Stat-o-matic

Chisox fan: Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano has at least one RBI in 11 straight games against Chicago, going back to April of 2011. Elias says it's the longest such streak against Chicago since Detroit's Billy Rogell had an 11-game streak in 1934.

Cycle built for two: On June 29, Arizona's Aaron Hill hit his second cycle in a 12-day span. In the modern era, according to STATS LLC, Brooklyn's Babe Herman (1931) is the only other player to hit for the cycle twice in the same season.

Home field disadvantage: The Padres hit 15 homers on their last road trip, one more than they've hit all year at Petco Park.

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2012/07/tracking_the_cost_of_the_2011.html

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